World News - Talabani: U.S. forces to stay as long as needed Iraqi president meets with Abizaid; Baghdad blast ends one-day calm

President Jalal Talabani on Saturday underscored the need for a unity government in Iraq after a spasm of sectarian killing and said he had been assured U.S. forces would remain in the country as long as needed — “no matter what the period.”Talabani spoke to reporters after a meeting with Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, who met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad on Saturday.Abizaid said he was “very, very pleased with the reaction of the Iraqi armed forces” during the violence that broke out after the Feb. 22 bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra and reprisal attacks against Sunni Muslims that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war. “We should understand that the terrorists are trying to create problems among the Iraqi people that can lead to difficulties between various groups,” he said after a separate meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. “We should not fall into their trap. We are stronger than they are. We will ultimately prevail.”... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Zimbabwe has only two weeks of wheat supply left, while citizens are faced with soaring bread prices, Zimbabwe's main milling organisation has said. The cost of bread has risen by 30%, pushing Zimbabwe's inflation rate to more than 600%. Zimbabwe has been in economic decline since President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000. The government is reported to have put its security forces on alert in the rising discontent leads to protests. David Govere, deputy chairman of the Millers Association, told AFP news agency the scarcity of wheat has meant a reduction in supplies to bakeries. "Due to depleted stocks, GMB [state-run food distributor Grain Marketing Board] is now giving us 400 tons of wheat a week, down from 600 tons," he is quoted as saying. Shortages of wheat could force bakers to import flour from South Africa, which could lead to more price rises. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4773876.stm

Republicans and Democrats in Congress would accept a guest-worker plan, according to a new poll that found more than 70 percent of senators and representatives supporting the idea. The National Journal Insiders Poll, a survey of members of Congress, found both parties are ready to accept a plan that would allow more foreigners to legally come to work in the United States. Support was 73 percent among Republicans and 77 percent among Democrats. "There's a clear bipartisan consensus behind a temporary-worker program," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican. "Now comes the more difficult task of actually doing something about it." He said that's because the agreement on a guest-worker program belies the wide range of possible programs. Mr. Cornyn's own proposal, sponsored along with Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, would set up a three-year cycle under which foreign workers could come for two years then return home for a year. ...http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060303-114358-6040r.htm

Now that America's savings rate has been negative for an entire year, a first since the Great Depression, the question is whether we're a spendthrift nation on its way to the poor house or whether we're looking at the wrong numbers when we calculate savings.The personal savings rate is, essentially, the amount of after-tax income left once household bills are paid. Maybe it's $75 for a household, maybe it's $7,500, but as a percentage of income, it's declining. The personal savings rate used to be 10% of disposable income from 1974 to 1984, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It fell to 4.8% by 1994, and was negative for all of 2005. As of January, the personal savings rate was minus 0.7%.With retirement looming soon for the baby boom generation, the concern is that a dearth of savings now could cause a cutoff in spending later....http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2006-03-04-americans-savings_x.htm?csp=34

The police chief and a sergeant in Troupe, a town in East Texas, were arrested on drug and evidence tampering charges and the department shut down. Police Chief Chester Kennedy was charged Friday with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. He was released from jail on a $400,000 bond.Sgt. Mark Turner, last year's chamber of commerce Officer of the Year, was booked into Smith County Jail late Thursday on a misdemeanor delivery of marijuana charge and a third-degree felony charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.Turner was being held on bonds totaling $500,000.The department's equipment was seized by officers from other law-enforcement agencies.Lt. Larry Wiginton of the Smith County Sheriff's Department told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that the arrests followed an eight-week investigation by the FBI, sheriff and the Smith County district attorney after Turner allegedly delivered marijuana....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186827,00.html

Marital rows do not just produce harsh words and hot air - they can harden your arteries too, a study suggests. But the cause of the damage differs depending on your gender, the research by University of Utah scientists involving 150 couples found. They said arterial disease in women was linked to either partner demonstrating hostility, but in men it was linked to either showing controlling behaviour. The research was presented to the American Psychosomatic Society meeting. The researchers studied 150 married couples, with at least one partner in their sixties, who were all paid to participate in the study. None had ever been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4771032.stm